This volume gathers into a single accessible collection the sources that illustrate this crucial period in the history of Christian Europe. The centuries from AD 284 to AD 476 span the lives of a number of extremely influential Christian and pagan writers, most notably Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria, Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo, and the pagans Ammianus Marcellinus and Julian the Apostate. The sources collected illuminate some of the most famous events in European history - the Great Persecution unleashed by Diocletian, the conversion of Constantine, the sack of Rome, and the abdication of Romulus Augustulus and the collapse of the western Roman empire. They also trace the evolution of Christian doctrine, the rise of Christian asceticism, the cult of saints, the place of women in the early church, and the emerging relationship between Church and state. This sourcebook will be invaluable for students and teachers of courses in history and church history, the world of late antiquity, and religious studies.